Samsung PS50P96FDX Review

With Pioneer deciding to go upmarket (and therefore going head-to-head with Fujitsu) in plasma television design and pricing structure, it's left to Samsung to battle it out with Panasonic for mass market appeal and volume. It's no surprise then that Samsung's and Panasonic's rollout strategies are strikingly similar: shortly after Panasonic launched the TH50PZ700, Samsung followed suit with their own full HD 1080p plasma PS50P96FDX.

But building a 1080p plasma TV is not just a straightforward case of replacing existing 720p panel with one of higher resolution; the entire circuitry has to be redesigned from scratch to adequately drive the panel while minimising processing artifacts. In addition to cost, this is the reason why the first 1080p plasma televisions took so long to emerge. Were it not for the frenzied obsession with 1080p fuelled by LCD manufacturers' propaganda campaign, I have no doubt that plasma manufacturers would have waited even longer before developing and selling 1080p screens.

So when I got hold of the Samsung PS50P96FDX, I am intrigued to find out if this 1080p plasma television is actually a step forward or backward...